LOS ANGELES — On Saturday night, Dave Roberts was ready to put Justin Turner back at third base the next morning. Less than 12 hours later, the Dodgers manager pivoted, pulling Turner from the starting lineup against the Braves at Dodger Stadium.

Turner missed his fourth straight start and fifth of the past six on Sunday because of wrist soreness. Roberts scratched the third baseman from the lineup hoping that an off-day on Monday would help get Turner ready to begin a series against the Rangers on Tuesday.

“Could he play today? Yes. Is his wrist getting better? Absolutely,” Roberts said Sunday. “But I think that for us, having an off day tomorrow, having him available to hit today, not push it — the equity we’ve built in the past couple of days — I think it just, right now, where we’re at, makes the most sense.”

Max Muncy started at third in Turner’s spot. Muncy, whose 12 home runs is tied for the team lead, has five homers in June, including one in each of the three games against Atlanta at home. When Turner returns, Roberts said Muncy may move to second base.

Turner did not take many swings during the first two days of the Dodgers’ homestand, but told Roberts on Sunday morning that there was still soreness from a fractured wrist suffered in March.

“Just logic says if there’s some soreness in there and you crank it up and you get going and you take 100 swings and play in a game, it’s probably not going to get better,” Roberts said. “So that residual soreness, I’m betting on taking today and another day, that will dissipate come Tuesday.”

Kershaw ‘on track’

Ace Clayton Kershaw is “on track” while recovering from a back injury, but Roberts doesn’t yet know where the finish line is as the manager did not put a timetable on Kershaw’s return. Kershaw, 30, has done long toss and has a bullpen session in the near future followed by a simulated game.

“To see him the way he’s moving, the way he’s throwing the baseball, the way he feels, which is the most important, all things that are very positive,” Roberts said. “What that means as far as when he comes back, I really can’t speak to that, but knowing that we have close to four months left of a season and have Clayton feel really good about the way things are going, I’m excited.”

Kershaw joined the club’s growing disabled list on June 1 with a lower back strain, although he’s also battled tendinitis in his left biceps this season. Another lower back strain sidelined Kershaw for five weeks last season, but Roberts said the pitcher is “in a better state of mind” as he rehabs the injury this time.

“I know that I’ll always bet on Clayton,” Roberts said, “and using what he’s been through and where he’s at right now, he’s in a really good place.”

Right-hander Kenta Maeda threw a bullpen session Sunday morning, taking another step in his recovery from a hip injury. Roberts said Maeda is a candidate to start Wednesday against the Rangers although the manager had not settled on a Tuesday starter yet.

When asked after the bullpen session if he would be pitching Wednesday, Maeda only smiled.

“We’ll find out when Dave announces my name,” he said through a translator, adding that he did feel ready to pitch Wednesday if called upon.

Roberts said after Sunday’s game that Maeda showed good progress in the bullpen session but the manager wanted “the assurance that he can sustain a complete start to put himself and the team in the right situation.”

Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.